Learning Paths
Each learning path is one chapter: a guided route through a topic, one small course at a time. Pick a class to see its chapters in order.
Chapter 10
Temperature and Thermal Expansion, Calorimetry and Change of State, Heat Transfer, Kinetic Theory of Gases
A railway track has small gaps, a cup of tea cools in the room, ice at 0 degrees takes a lot of heat to melt, and the Sun warms the Earth through empty space. In this chapter we measure temperature and learn what it means, we find the law of the ideal gas, we find how much solids and liquids expand, we measure heat with the specific heat and the latent heat, and we study the three ways in which heat travels: conduction, convection and radiation. Python solves the mixing of hot and cold water, draws the cooling curve and finds the temperature of the Sun.
3 courses
Chapter 11
Laws of Thermodynamics, Thermodynamic Processes and Specific Heats of Gases, Heat Engines, the Second Law and Entropy, Kinetic Theory of Gases
A bicycle pump becomes warm when you use it, a refrigerator cools its inside and warms the kitchen, and no engine turns all the heat of its fuel into work. In this chapter we find how heat and work change the energy of a gas, which is the first law, we follow a gas through the four basic processes on a pressure-volume graph, and we learn why the second law and entropy set a limit on every engine. Python computes the work from the area under a curve, compares isothermal and adiabatic changes and finds the efficiency of the Carnot engine.
3 courses